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antagonist's review against another edition
2.0
This book follows Sunny Song a YouTuber and social media influencer who is sent away to a "teen farm social media rehab". I really wanted to like this book, but it just wasn't for me. That doesn't mean it isn't worth reading... I just for sure wasn't the intended market. This book is fairly anti-social media, which isn't a bad thing, but there is enough of it where it gets annoying.
I couldn't relate to Sunny and didn't care about anything that she cared about. The romance was pretty instant, but they did have cute moments. I really like Mya and felt like she was the best character in the book. There were some genuinely funny moments but sadly, I just wasn't invested.
The antagonist Wendy didn't feel fleshed out and I didn't understand what was fueling her. The real villain turns out to be the casual racism Sunny experienced. #OwnVoices representation is great and I did love seeing Sunny overcome the struggles she faced because she is an Asian American. Overall a cute romance for a younger audience.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.
I couldn't relate to Sunny and didn't care about anything that she cared about. The romance was pretty instant, but they did have cute moments. I really like Mya and felt like she was the best character in the book. There were some genuinely funny moments but sadly, I just wasn't invested.
The antagonist Wendy didn't feel fleshed out and I didn't understand what was fueling her. The real villain turns out to be the casual racism Sunny experienced. #OwnVoices representation is great and I did love seeing Sunny overcome the struggles she faced because she is an Asian American. Overall a cute romance for a younger audience.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.
thenextgenlibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
If you forced me to choose between the two—swimming or biking—I’d go with biking, but a stationary one. Ideally one with a place to put my iPad so I could watch Netflix. A poor man’s Peloton.” (Same, girl
luverbyrd's review against another edition
3.0
Great for summer vibes!
Definitely leans more teen in the young adult category, but I had fun reading it still.
All the YouTube and social media talk was relatable and fun to read characters worried about that stuff.
Overall social media message was a good one.
Cute summer read, also read pretty quickly.
Definitely leans more teen in the young adult category, but I had fun reading it still.
All the YouTube and social media talk was relatable and fun to read characters worried about that stuff.
Overall social media message was a good one.
Cute summer read, also read pretty quickly.
thedamwife's review against another edition
3.0
I love Suzanne Park, but I just felt like this one fell flat.
lightqueer's review against another edition
3.0
while i was initially excited to read this, i found myself kind of disappointed. sunny's circumstances and those of the people around her gave the book and its characters a very unrealistic sort of feeling. what's more, the problems with sunny's family also seemed to become resolved off screen, which took away from a lot of potential development. however, sunny's introspection, development, and thoughts about her diaspora experience resonated with me. thank you for this ARC!
dawn_chen's review against another edition
2.0
Thanks Netgalley for an arc of this book.
I hate to say this but I didn't like this as much as I'd like to. It's not bad. But just not as good as I wished it to be.
Things I liked:
- the bickering old couple. They were adorable.
- the scene where people were casually racist towards Sunny and she just straight up quit.
- the book is funny and made me crack up a few times.
Things I didn't like:
- the overarching theme of how Internet fame is toxic and how people should focus on "real and meaningful relationship" while using media. This really implies that you cannot make "meaningful connection" online, when that can be further away from the the truth.
People find friendships online that are meaningful even more than their real life ones. Especially a lot of teenagers go online (esp LGBT+ Ones) find supportive creators and community that they don't have in real life. When their real life community is toxic and bigoted, online community provide a safe haven from that.
This book could have been a nuanced discussion on online community but instead all we get is "online fame is meaningless and only using online to promote real life relationship is meaningful" message.
- the juvenile writing style. I don't really feel like Sunny talks like her age at all. She feels more like 13 to 14 instead of her actual age. It's jarring.
- the flat characters. I feel like I didn't connect to any characters at all and I couldn't care less about the romance.
I hate to say this but I didn't like this as much as I'd like to. It's not bad. But just not as good as I wished it to be.
Things I liked:
- the bickering old couple. They were adorable.
- the scene where people were casually racist towards Sunny and she just straight up quit.
- the book is funny and made me crack up a few times.
Things I didn't like:
- the overarching theme of how Internet fame is toxic and how people should focus on "real and meaningful relationship" while using media. This really implies that you cannot make "meaningful connection" online, when that can be further away from the the truth.
People find friendships online that are meaningful even more than their real life ones. Especially a lot of teenagers go online (esp LGBT+ Ones) find supportive creators and community that they don't have in real life. When their real life community is toxic and bigoted, online community provide a safe haven from that.
This book could have been a nuanced discussion on online community but instead all we get is "online fame is meaningless and only using online to promote real life relationship is meaningful" message.
- the juvenile writing style. I don't really feel like Sunny talks like her age at all. She feels more like 13 to 14 instead of her actual age. It's jarring.
- the flat characters. I feel like I didn't connect to any characters at all and I couldn't care less about the romance.
thebrillianceofbookshelves's review against another edition
3.0
a teenage girl with a social media addiction, a digital detox camp, and a very cute farm boy...what could happen?
rep: korean-american mc
the good:
this was a very enjoyable book! it was a very quick read, despite being about 300 pages, and i had fun the entire time! i was a bit skeptical during the first 1/2 of the book, but by the end i found i enjoyed it quite a lot. the storyline was entertaining and it was overall just a really cute summer-y read. the romance was also adorable, it was probably my favorite part of this book! sunny and theo are so perfect and i really loved all their interactions.
the bad:
okay....so you know when authors try to "relate" to gen z by making trendy references but it ends up just being incredibly cringy? yeah. this book had a bad case of that. it wasn't unbearable, and definitely no where near the worst i've seen, but i did get some second hand embarrassment from it. i mean, the whole point of the book is how sunny, the main character, has a social media addiction so i guess i should've known to expect it, but still.
for example, this quote from sunny's inner dialogue: "Insert double-praise-hands emoji. Nah. Scratch that. Double-X-eyes emoji all the way." i don't know what it is with adults thinking that teenagers think in emojis and hashtags but it needs to stop because i can't take it anymore. WE DON'T ADD HASHTAGS IN FRONT OF EVERY WORD THAT POPS INTO OUR HEAD. PLEASE. luckily, while tiktok was mentioned, it was only in passing. AND THANK GOD FOR THAT. there was a whole chapter about the kids having to make memes to represent their true selves, which was definitely interesting, but kinda creative too so i'm not complaining much. sunny did keep referring to toilet paper as "TP"...which i've never heard anyone do besides when talking about "TP-ing a house" but maybe its an LA thing. anyway, that was my main complaint. i did also find sunny unbearable at times and quite confusing in her motives. she definitely needs a bit of a reality check, but i guess that's the point of the book, and i think she improves a lot by the end. in conclusion, i didn't love this book but i didn't hate it either. it was pretty alright!
rep: korean-american mc
the good:
this was a very enjoyable book! it was a very quick read, despite being about 300 pages, and i had fun the entire time! i was a bit skeptical during the first 1/2 of the book, but by the end i found i enjoyed it quite a lot. the storyline was entertaining and it was overall just a really cute summer-y read. the romance was also adorable, it was probably my favorite part of this book! sunny and theo are so perfect and i really loved all their interactions.
the bad:
okay....so you know when authors try to "relate" to gen z by making trendy references but it ends up just being incredibly cringy? yeah. this book had a bad case of that. it wasn't unbearable, and definitely no where near the worst i've seen, but i did get some second hand embarrassment from it. i mean, the whole point of the book is how sunny, the main character, has a social media addiction so i guess i should've known to expect it, but still.
for example, this quote from sunny's inner dialogue: "Insert double-praise-hands emoji. Nah. Scratch that. Double-X-eyes emoji all the way." i don't know what it is with adults thinking that teenagers think in emojis and hashtags but it needs to stop because i can't take it anymore. WE DON'T ADD HASHTAGS IN FRONT OF EVERY WORD THAT POPS INTO OUR HEAD. PLEASE. luckily, while tiktok was mentioned, it was only in passing. AND THANK GOD FOR THAT. there was a whole chapter about the kids having to make memes to represent their true selves, which was definitely interesting, but kinda creative too so i'm not complaining much. sunny did keep referring to toilet paper as "TP"...which i've never heard anyone do besides when talking about "TP-ing a house" but maybe its an LA thing. anyway, that was my main complaint. i did also find sunny unbearable at times and quite confusing in her motives. she definitely needs a bit of a reality check, but i guess that's the point of the book, and i think she improves a lot by the end. in conclusion, i didn't love this book but i didn't hate it either. it was pretty alright!
hmhurst's review against another edition
4.0
Super cute story about a Korean American LA high school YouTuber who is sent to digital detox camp at a farm in Iowa the summer before senior year. Very funny and great lessons learned ❤️
Special thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the advance copy of the audiobook. The narrator did a great job also. Comes out June 3rd!
Special thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the advance copy of the audiobook. The narrator did a great job also. Comes out June 3rd!
fscottfishgerald's review against another edition
3.0
I received a free copy from NetGalley but all opinions are my own.
The book is pretty typical for a YA novel but there were some unique aspects of the plot that I appreciated.
When I first started reading the book the main character really irritated me, because they were such a teenager. The self-centeredness and conviction of being right was a bit unbearable, probably because I teach teenagers and this behavior is something I see daily. But by the end of the novel, Sunny (the main character) had some character development and started to be more aware of the fact that there are different perspectives in the world and it is not always so black and white.
As an adult it was hard to get invested in the story at first but I can see how appealing this book can be for teenagers. The story itself is interesting so I stuck around but for a teenager I think the depiction of Sunny is pretty accurate so they may relate to her from the beginning. As a highschool teacher I recommend this book for high schoolers but as an adult that occasionally reads YA I would say you might not connect with this book.
The book is pretty typical for a YA novel but there were some unique aspects of the plot that I appreciated.
When I first started reading the book the main character really irritated me, because they were such a teenager. The self-centeredness and conviction of being right was a bit unbearable, probably because I teach teenagers and this behavior is something I see daily. But by the end of the novel, Sunny (the main character) had some character development and started to be more aware of the fact that there are different perspectives in the world and it is not always so black and white.
As an adult it was hard to get invested in the story at first but I can see how appealing this book can be for teenagers. The story itself is interesting so I stuck around but for a teenager I think the depiction of Sunny is pretty accurate so they may relate to her from the beginning. As a highschool teacher I recommend this book for high schoolers but as an adult that occasionally reads YA I would say you might not connect with this book.